It's funny really. I never thought there would be time to tell my story, or that I would even be alive to write it all down. The first thing I should tell you is that I'm going to try and not give away the ending. This is short story but it took far too long for it to develop and I'm not going to spoil it. I'm going to start at the beginning and I'm going to do my best to recall everything just as it happened. I don't know if there's anyone out there left to read what I am about to write nor do I know if anyone will actually care but here I go.
My name is Iser Rain and so far, I've survived.
I'm going to start at the beginning because I've been told that that is as good as a place to start as any. The year was 2022; I was going to school in a small town, nearing the middle of my final year.. I'm used to the small town life, having been born and raised in one. I'm 6ft with brown hair and green eyes. At the time I was 17 and thinking that I only had a little more school left before I could start my life. Funny, I was so anxious to get out of school when I was planning on spending most of the rest of my life teaching in one.
Thinking back it all seems so meaningless. The exams, the homework, parties, girls and friends. What seemed so important back then seems inconsequential now. The only thing that matters now is staying alive.
I haven't told you exactly what happened because for some reason I feel that if I write it down it'll be real, it will be absolute. I know it's real, I've lived it but if I put it in words, put pen to paper then it can never be taken back.
OK here goes nothing. That year, 2022, just when I thought I had it all figured it out, things fell apart. I mean things weren't perfect, I was single, tired of school, racking up student loans and to top it all off, Finals were on their way, but I digress. A Virtual Reality game came out, revolutionary technology at it's best, made by some foreign genius, Kayaba Akihiko. NerveGear it was called, a weird helmet apparatus that intercepted any and all brain signals and converting them into a different format that was compatible with the game software. This game was Sword Art Online.
Only problem was, nothing ever goes as planned.
"What the fuck is this?" a voice was screaming.
Nobody knew. People had just suddenly appeared in the town square. There was no way out. They were trapped.
I looked around me. All I saw were faces, faces just like mine, confused and apprehensive. I turned back to my friend. For those who don't know, his name is Thornton, a silly name, and he knew it, why he adopted it I'll never know.
"Thornton, what do you reckon?"
He just shrugged at me.
Well, no clues there I guess.
I heard another shout, this one of surprise, this spread across the crowd as people began to look up. There was blood seeping from the sky. As it fell it melded, joined together, to create a man in a dark red cloak that obscured his face.
Too much was happening too fast, only minutes ago I found I couldn't get out of this game, here I can't even leave a town square, and now this god has appeared before me…
He raised his arms dramatically, and then spoke to us.
"Attention Players, Welcome to my world." His voice was deep and had an air of benevolence to it, "My name is Kayaba Akihiko, as of this moment, I am the sole person who can control this world."
Murmuring erupted around me, this confused people, "Wasn't he the guy who made this game, what's going on, what does he mean?"
"I'm sure you've already noticed," the voice interrupted, "that the logout button is missing from the main menu, this is not a defect in the game, I repeat, this is not a defect."
He seemed to look around at us, it was like this Kayaba was playing with us. I felt anger rising in place of all previous emotions, but before I could anything, he spoke.
"It is a feature of Sword Art Online" My anger disappeared, vanished, now I was scared at what this meant, "You cannot log out of SAO yourselves, and no one on the outside can shut down or remove the NerveGear"
His reference to the helmet style apparatus that allowed me to link into SAO, brought further frightened mutterings from the crowd, most were still clueless, but a small number of people out of the 10,000 present had a bad feeling they knew where this was going.
Like them, I had read the full manual about the NerveGear, and what it could potentially do. My fears were realized right away.
"Should this be attempted, the transmitter inside the NerveGear will emit a powerful microwave, destroying your brain, and thus ending your life."
More people were getting it now; it was spoken to directly for the meaning to escape anyone.
Kayaba waited a moment before continuing, "Unfortunately, several players' friends and families have ignored this warning, and have attempted to remove the NerveGear. As a result, two hundred and thirteen players are gone forever, from bot Aincrad and the real world."
Suddenly there was a flash beside me, I looked and Thornton was gone, replaced by shining particles of light exploding outwards and fading away.
"Two hundred and fourteen," as tears welled in my eyes, I was well and truly terrified now.
Floating screens began appearing around Kayaba's floating form, depicting news articles and feeds, "As you can see, news organizations across the world are reporting all of this, including the deaths. Thus, you can assume that the danger of a NerveGear being removed is now minimal." This comforted no one, a few players were openly crying now, "I hope you will relax and attempt to clear the game. But I want you to remember this clearly, there is no longer any method to revive somebody within the game. If your HP drops to zero, your avatar will be forever lost."
The screens began disappearing, as though not wanting to distract from the statement to follow.
"And simultaneously, the NerveGear will destroy your brain!"
Everyone froze, just so stunned that this could really be happening, nothing like this, was, well, my mind was so jumbled I couldn't form any cohesive thought.
"There is only one means of escape. To complete the game, you are presently on the lowest floor of Aincrad, Floor 1. If you make your way through the dungeon and defeat the Floor Boss, you may advance to the next level. Defeat the Final Boss on Floor 100 and you will clear this game."
More muttering broke out in the crowd, questioning the truth of those words, the words of a man who had practically murdered two hundred and fourteen people.
"Finally, I've added a present from me to your item storage, please see for yourselves."
I lifted my hand and accessed my item pool, a flashing icon was there, it read 'mirror' pressing it, the mirror appeared in my hand, a small thing, about the size of a wallet. Looking into it, I saw my face. And my mind yet again crashed to a halt. I was seeing my face. Mine, not my avatar's, mine.
I looked up and I'm surrounded by people who weren't there a moment before, all looking as shocked as I was. 'This is insane, totally insane', my mind was screaming at me. I looked at my body, it was all the real me.
I looked back up to Kayaba; waiting for the inevitable explanation…I wasn't disappointed.
"Right now, you're probably wondering 'Why? Why would Kayaba Akihiko, developer of Sword Art Online and the NerveGear, do all of this?' My goal has already been achieved. I created Sword Art Online for one reason, to create a world and intervene in it," the hooded Kayaba looked up into the sky, seemingly smiling, despite there being no way to know, "And now, it is complete. This ends the tutorial for the official Sword Art Online launch. Good luck players."
And at these words, his giant body started to fracture, wait no, it was like the blood that had formed it was reforming from his body and going back into the sky, the body diminishing as it did so, until all that remained was the cruel shock of his words, reverberating among the ten thousand players below.
As soon as the last fragments of Kayaba Akihiko's body had vanished, the previously invisible wall around the town square appeared and subsequently shattered, all in a single fluid motion.
It was like a signal, a slow shuffling exodus from the town square, as people did the only thing they were capable of in their vulnerable state. Follow the group.
I fell in line and shuffled out with the rest, we left a few behind, those that had fallen to the ground in despair, or shocked silence. They'd get up eventually, we all instinctively knew this.
Out of the corner of my eyes I saw people, small in number, breaking away from the mass, darting into the side streets littering the main road.
'These people are doing something.' I thought, conviction growing, 'They know they have to do something in order to survive.'
This show of action spurred me on, at the next opportunity I also vanished down a side street.
Following the starters map to this town, I headed out of the starting city, The Town of Beginnings, into the fields surrounding it. My pace slowed from the jog I had maintained.
"Heeey!" A voice called out.
I spun around, sword sweeping from it's scabbard in a wild swing of panic. I was not better yet. My eyes caught a small group of people, still a distance away, I didn't like people, but I waited for them to reach me.
"Hey man, you doing alright?" the guy at the front asked, his three friends looked at me, fear evident in their eyes. They were obviously as shaken from earlier like me.
"…..I'm fine," looking back at the speaker, he had scruffy red hair and a bandanna.
"My name's Klein," a hand was extended towards me.
I looked at it for a few moments, long enough to make everyone involved feel slightly uncomfortable, then reached out my own, just as his was about to be withdrawn. Hands clasped we shook once then released each other.
"What are you planning to do?
"….I was planning to head out to start leveling," not entirely true, I just wanted to be alone for awhile, to recuperate in an area free from betrayal.
"Wanna come with us then?" Klein smiled at me. He did seem genuine.
In response I turned away, looking towards the horizon, "Nah, I prefer going at it alone."
"That's a shame, I'm starting up a guild, so if you ever change your mind, we can always give you a place," Klein smiled again, then turned to his friends, "Alright guys, lets keep going, see ya later…?"
"Iser."
Yea, see you around Iser" with those parting words, Klein and his friends walked away. I wouldn't see him again for months.
Sighing in relief I turned back to where I'd been heading, a large tree on top of a hill. A small herd of Boars appeared in my path a ways ahead, instead of deviating I kicked myself into a run. My sword drawn, a grimace marring my face, I charged towards them, 'I have to start sometime.'
7 Weeks Later
"Argh," I groaned in pain as light assaulted me, through closed eyelids.
Slowly I forced them to open, simulated facial muscles straining in protest. The light that had so rudely interrupted my sleep was pouring in through my window.
Okay, window was generous. What I really had was a gap in my cloak that was pulled over my head. Unlike many others I hadn't saved up early to buy a house, or have a constant expenditure to rent at an inn. I had taken to staying anywhere with a bench. Players looked at me with pity and/or disdain, like I was some real world beggar. Truth be told, I'd spent everything I earned on securing my survival, armour and weapons were my prime target for purchase. In comparison to my survival, the luxury of a place to stay was a secondary concern, a luxury item.
Sitting up, arms straining for the sky, I got to my feet. Accessing my item pool, I swapped out my cloak to equip my 'Tempered Light Armour.' Sleeping in my armour was unbearably uncomfortable.
Looking down the main street I saw the Obelisk. A giant structure with the name of every player carved into it, automatically updating to scratch out a name when a player died. As my usual routine I checked the updates every morning. Despite my preference for solitude, I couldn't help but enjoy the limited company of some player, and I checked up after them daily, without having to contact them.
Looking at the Dead Count I felt a familiar twinge in my stomach, over a thousand players, I mean people, dead, nearly twelve since yesterday alone.
The first few weeks were brutal, more than a few occasions I saw a player trampled to death by mere boars, and those were the weakest creatures in this game.
In comparison, I'd found my element in this world, I had flown through levels, spending points exclusively on combat based bonuses. Needless to say I'd neglected any cooking skills, and as such have been eating bread for nearly two months.
Pulling out another chunk of bread from my inventory, I headed down the Main Street chewing contentedly.
Nothing much happens in towns anymore, well apart from the relatively common "duel". People need an outlet for their anger and slicing up game built sprites can only satisfy for so long.
There was a growing number of players turning to less than savory actions in order to seek entertainment or release tension.
When these individuals banded together into guilds, they were titled as "Yellow" or "Red" guilds, depending on the level of crime they involved themselves in.
Needless to say, "Red" guilds were the worst. These were players who had actually killed people. If this was a normal game I'd expect their numbers and popularity to be greater, but in a game where death really means death, they were the most debased of us all.
I myself did a stint in a "Yellow" guild to get a minor taste of it, but I personally found that stealing from player's houses and similar actions to not be quite my style, I can see the appeal, and maybe it was because I was utterly useless at it, having not upgraded my "Sneak" and "Lockpick" abilities at all, that I didn't enjoy myself. What I did enjoy was a raid on a village type area where the guild I had joined decided to completely strip of everything, I remember jumping off roofs and cutting down NPC's who got in my way, the guard NPC's putting up minimal resistance to my high combat stats. The thrill was exhilarating. But I digress.